sexuality in games is kind of a non entity for the most part(especially these kind), so even when playing a female character you don't really get the sense of a female perspective. It's mostly just aesthetic I believe.

As of late, I have trouble connecting with characters period, regardless of gender. But back in the day it didn't matter to me whether or not a character was male or female, so long as they were well written. Elly from Xenogears comes to mind as an example.

I have no problem connecting, but sometimes I connect in different ways. Like a female RPG character may remind me of a girl I know or once knew and I connect that way and not on the more visceral level of "oh, man this character is just like me!"

The exception to that rule is Maya Amano of Persona 2. I was able to connect with her on a more visceral level since I saw a lot of myself in her. Definitely an interesting and dynamic character, especially if you've played both Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment.

And as the others said, the characters have to be fleshed out, well-written, and interesting first before I can feel anything more than a tenuous connection of them merely as an avatar in a game. A good character connects with me in a way that I really feel like I'm in that world.

When I was playing Hourglass of Summer, I shared little-to-nothing in common with protagonist Kotaro, but I connected with him in such a way that I was completely immersed in his world and his life and whenever I played that game, I was no longer me. Same with Takeshi and Kid in Ever 17.

I can appreciate a realistic female character, that the average person can relate to--not like some priss, dressed up like a belly dancer, that has the personality of an airhead. The mentality that female RPG characters have to be prettied up for whatever reason is stupid. I wish RPG stereotypes would be abolished, and development teams could take more risks.

Gender doesn't matter to me. I concentrate on personality over looks. But zooming in on females, I'll give a recent example of a female RPG character that I loved--Kumatora from Mother 3.

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Her character design and personality all had a masculine vibe, but it wasn't like she was heartless and/or tough as dirt. She had a compassionate side to her. A healthy balance that made her a character I could connect to, and appreciate.

Edit: Just as a precaution, I placed Kumatora's description as a spoiler tag. Even though it isn't really a spoiler.

Personally, I find game characters are meant to be exaggerated, so in that sense they're highly unrealistic and hard to understand...IMO.

I don't find a game's lead male character hard to understand because he works as follows : "Jack has a strong sense of justice, can't turn down anyone in need, will protect the mysterious girl at all costs, lost his father/mother, wishes to become strong".Game characters then become easy to understand since they really stick to their profile descrptions.

Characters may become a bit exaggurated, but that's only because the creators want to make a character's personality traits more obvious for the player, so that it's easier to understand him/her. Sometimes it's harder to connect/relate to more realistic characters, because realistic people have so much going on internally. It would be hard to convey it in a game and make it easy for the player to understand, I think.

Hmmm, I guess so. I usually have a hard time connecting with the protagonist regardless of sex, usually because the way they act is very different from how I would act in the same situation. That does not however, stop me from carring about the character, if of course, the said character is developed the right way through out the course of the game. An example would Vagrant Story, where while I really care for what Ashley goes through, and I don't really connect with him, but I do connect with Sydney. There is only one female character I think I can say I was able to connect to, at least that I remember, and it was Argilla from DDS. I just really saw eye to eye with her actions and beliefs.

Logged

--Oh, please. Warping the minds of men and shepherding the masses has always been your Church's domain. You lure sheep with empty miracles and a dead God. ...Or perhaps you, too, are a sheep, Samantha. A poor little lamb, bleating for your faith as though it were milk of the poppy. Yet mark your savior well, for he is one of the demons you so fear, Samantha--